DON’T MISS THIS

NEXT UP: Shipley’s next home outing likely comes April 19 when he faces New Mexico and projected first-round pick D.J. Petersen, a third baseman. ONLINE: Shipley talks with reporter Chris Murray on RGJ.com about why his favorite pitch isn’t his 95-mph fastball but rather his changeup. INSIDE: ESPN Insider Keith Law on where Shipley will be selected in the 2013 MLB draft, 8B.

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When Wolf Pack pitcher Braden Shipley walks on a baseball field these days there are three dozen scouts and 15-20 radar guns waiting for him behind home plate.

But when Shipley was a 4-year-old who would take his baseball bat with him wherever he went in his hometown of Medford, Ore., the audience was quite different.

Back then, his father’s friends would come over to the Shipley household to watch the young slugger, who was just learning the alphabet, take batting practice.

They’d lob him plastic balls and young Braden, whom family calls Bradey, would put on a show.

“That was our primary entertainment, watching him hit,” said Michael Shipley, who raised three kids, including Braden, as a single father from their grade-school years up. “As a young kid, he was just amazing. The hand-eye coordination was off the charts. All my friends would come watch him.”

Shipley eventually shed the bat for a pitcher’s glove and his Little League jerseys for Nevada’s silver and blue. After years of dedication — and some physical and mental maturation —Shipley has become the most highly sought-after prospect in any sport in Wolf Pack history.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound right-hander, armed with a mid-90s fastball and killer changeup, is projected as a top-15 pick in June’s Major League Baseball draft. Both Baseball America and ESPN rate Shipley as the No. 10 prospect in the draft. That spot is slotted for a $2.7 million signing bonus.

Nevada’s Gary Powers, in his 31st season as the program’s coach, said Shipley is the best pitcher the Wolf Pack has seen. That’s lofty praise for a program that has sent five pitchers to the majors.

“He has a major-league fastball, he has a major-league changeup and he’s developing a major-league curveball,” Powers said. “We’ve had guys who have had one major-league pitch or maybe two, but he has three. That’s the thing that separates him and puts him above the rest.”

Barring something unforeseen, Shipley is a couple months away from being a millionaire and chasing his major-league dream. The 21-year-old said that’s surreal to think about — he’s trying to stay focused on the present — but it feels like all the hard work he’s poured into the game is paying off.

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“It is a little bit weird thinking, ‘Hey, I have an opportunity to make all of this money and be a first-round draft pick,’” Shipley said. “But at the same time I know what I’ve put into the game and I know the work that I’ve done and I feel like I deserve something like this. I don’t think there’s a guy who works harder than I do and wants it more than I do. I’ve put myself in this position. Nobody has handed anything to me in my whole life. That’s just who I am. I’m not looking for people to hand me things.’”

Late bloomer

Shipley is a prized prospect now, but he wasn’t the star of the show in high school.

North Medford High coach Brett Wolfe fondly recalls a doubleheader during Shipley’s senior season against Sheldon High in Eugene, the top-ranked team in the division.

In the first game of the doubleheader, Sheldon beat North Medford’s ace Matt Mauer, a star lefty who now pitches at Pepperdine. In the second game, the rail-thin Shipley shut out Sheldon, 6-0.

“After the game their coach is yelling at his players in right field, just screaming at them,” Wolfe recalled. “He’s saying, ‘I don’t know how you beat a left-handed pitcher like Matt Mauer and you can’t beat this skinny little guy.’ One of their players, a big, top-dog left-handed hitter stands up and says, ‘Coach, that’s the best curveball we’ve ever seen. We can’t hit that pitch.’”

Shipley acknowledged he’s “never been the biggest guy, never the fastest, never the strongest.” He joked people would be surprised if he’d make a good play in Little League because of his small stature.

A late-bloomer, Shipley didn’t shave in high school and it appears growing a beard today would be a challenge, even though he’s 21. But the slow-to-develop body housed a fierce competitor.

“I never had the advantage over other guys as far as size goes,” Shipley said. “That’s just something I’ve had to deal with. It’s like the Dustin Pedroia story. When you’re told over and over, ‘You’re too small, you’re too small,’ that just drives you to do something about it and that’s what I eventually ended up doing: ‘Who cares what people say? I know what I’m all about and that’s all it boils down to.’”

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Shipley, who didn’t start pitching until his junior year of high school, started to hit 90 miles an hour late in his prep career. Still, recruiters weren’t hot on him. He committed to play for Western Nevada College. But the Pack offered him a scholarship after watching him mow down a lineup laden with Division I players at the annual Josh Anderson Memorial Tournament in Reno.

Wolfe, who has sent four pitchers to the pros during his 19 years at North Medford, said the thing that separates Shipley is his natural, no-stress throwing motion.

“He’s genetically gifted,” Wolfe said. “His motion is fluid. He throws with no tension in his arm. Every thing is fluid. You could tell at a young age that he was going to physically mature late. The thing that differed in him is he threw very easy, very fluid and with very little stress in the shoulder and arm. He was more naturally gifted in that area than almost any pitcher.”

Coming into focus

Shipley wasn’t only a late-bloomer physically. It took him a while to mature mentally, too.

The charismatic, good-looking Shipley never got into any real trouble but like most kids his mind would sway from one thing to the next. Wolfe sat him down to talk about his future.

“He was young and liked to listen to music and drive around in his car and cause a little havoc here and there like all kids,” Wolfe said. “He used to have big diamond earrings in his ears and rap music on his phone. We had a conversation about what he wanted to do and how those things could impact his future. He made some choices and the next thing you know the earrings came out and the rap music was gone and the approach was more grown up and disciplined.“

The maturation continued at Nevada. Shipley was an all-conference shortstop in his first season, when he pitched only 10 innings because Nevada had a need on the infield.

It was off the field and in the classroom where Shipley learned some lessons that season.

“My first semester my freshman year I think I got a 1.75 GPA,” Shipley said. “I looked at myself in the mirror after that and said, ‘That’s unacceptable.’ Since then I haven’t gotten lower than a 2.8. I’m thankful God gave me the ability to flip the switch and figure out what I have to do to achieve my goals.”

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Coupled with a position switch — Shipley has had only 12 at-bats the past two years while focusing on pitching — Pack coaches have seen a more driven Shipley since his freshman season.

“He’s always had that alpha male attitude, but it’s at another level right now,” said Pack pitching coach Pat Flurry, who pitched in the minors for 14 years. “As a coach, you dream about guys like this.”

When asked what Shipley’s biggest weakness is, Flurry offered the most honest answer he could muster: “I really don’t know if he has one. Obviously everybody has one, but I don’t know if he does. He’s so competitive, he has every intangible off the field. His stuff speaks for itself. He has everything you want on the field and off the field.”

With an ultra-aggressive, ultra-competitive personality, Shipley said he always envisioned himself as a position player because he wanted to play every day. But after becoming a full-time pitcher, he can’t imagine playing elsewhere. Every at-bat is the ultimate mano-a-mano showdown.

“I control whether or not a team is going to beat us,” Shipley said. “They’re either going to score no runs or one run or they’re going to score five. My personality and the way I go about things, I’m not going to let that happen. I’m not going to let a team put six or seven runs up on the board. I don’t think it’s acceptable for me to allow a team to score four runs.”

The final step

After his sophomore season — when Shipley was named the WAC pitcher of the year after going 9-4 with a 2.20 ERA — Powers wanted his ace to take the summer off. Shipley had other ideas.

He headed to Alaska, to spend his second season playing for the Anchorage Bucs summer league team with the goal of improving his body.

Tony Cappuccilli, the Bucs’ head coach and a former Pack catcher, noticed Shipley wasn’t the guy he coached two years ago.

“He was totally different,” Cappuccilli said. “He had some confidence from his sophomore season and he was starting to get a little more recognized and I think he realized he had a legit shot to go out and make a name for himself. He came out here every day with the intent of getting better.”

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Shipley, who arrived at Nevada at 6-1 and 160 pounds, went to the gym every day. He built his body up to 190 pounds and started to hit 99 miles per hour. He was named the top prospect in the Alaskan Baseball League and appeared on the radar of major-league teams.

Shipley has carried that momentum into this season, posting a 4-1 record, 2.30 ERA and striking out a batter an inning. Cappuccilli caught three future major-league pitchers during his time at Nevada, including Chad Qualls, Darrell Rasner and Eddie Bonine.

“Stuff-wise, he’s better than all of them,” Cappuccilli said. “The only guy who threw a better breaking ball was Darrell, but Braden’s changeup is so good and his velocity was up around 97 for us. He has three pitches that are going play more than those other guys, and those guys were all great pitchers.”

Michael Shipley said he’s most proud of his son’s maturity and drive, which has taken time to develop.

Shipley’s never-satisfied drive won’t end when he leaves Nevada. The junior is a first-round lock in this year’s draft and the seven-figure contract that comes with that is nice. But it’s not what Shipley has been chasing since putting on those batting practice displays for his father’s friends as a 4-year-old.

“It’s going to be cool playing pro ball in the minor leagues, but that’s not what my goal is,” Shipley said. “I’m not trying to sit in the minor leagues for very long. I’m trying to get up to the top level as quickly as I can and I’m preparing myself now so I can go in there and say, ‘This is the stuff I’ve got and this is what I can do to these hitters so get me up to your top team so I can start helping you win a World Series.’”